Mounting means for door latches



July 21, 1953 Filed Feb. 8, 1951 R. C. CERF, JR

2 Sheets-Sheet l 5e FIG. l.

57 D i11- 59 fr? 5o %56 2O .5 2 2 -4 6| 23 22 'I Il. ..3 28 37 .1 5 44 A 6 h UI" e5 38 47 65 4| 48W W""III||Y""IHIH|H|I||y 1 I Ill 25 25 27 66 5 @V5 34 FIG. 2. 29

57 {gl//l| FIG. 5 FlG. 4. 20 52 69 68 2o 54 29 5\ o INVNTOR ROBERT c. CERF IR.

ATTORNEY July 21, 1953 R. c. CERF, JR 2,646,301

MOUNTING MEANS FOR DOOR LATCHE Filed Feb. 8, 1951 y 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 6.

ROBERT C. CERF IR.

WHW

ATTORNEY `line --5 of Figure -1 Patented July 21, 1953 to Hollymade Hardware Manufacturing ,Company, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California Y Application r February 8, 1951, Serial No. 210,064

2 claims. (o1. 292-337)v This invention relates to mounting means for door latches and particularly latches which are mounted in bored holes in the door. Y

One object of the invention is to improve .and simplify the construction and operation of door latches with knobs. Another object is to provide meansfor spacing the escutcheonplates on doors of -diiierentthiokness A further object is to provide means for accurately aligning split-spindle door knob and latch sets. These and other objects are attained by my invention which will be Y understood from the following description,refer 'ence being made to the `accompanying drawings in which: l l Figure 1 is a plan View partly in section show- I Ving adoor knob 4and latch'set of my invention as mounted ona door;

Figure 2 is 'a side elevational :view taken in the direction indicated in the line2-2 ofiFigure Vl,

.with parts broken away to reveal the interior construction; l

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional View taken on the rline 3-3 of Figure 1;

Figure 4l is a cross-sectional View taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 1; Y

Figure 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on the Figure 6.is a cross-sectional View takenlcon'the lines 6-6 of Figure 1; Y.

Figure 7 is a disassemblyrview showing `inper- -spective a spindle, bearing disk,` spindleattachwasher, and a rollback; and

A Figure 8 is a disassembly view in perspective'of the retractor arm and base plate.

` yIn the preferred form of my inventionshown in the drawings, a retractor housing 20 generally cylindrical in shape is provided With an integral closure 2| atV one end which is extended to a greater diameter than the retractor housing to form a clamping rim 22 for engaging themargin of the hole in the door in which the retractor ,housing is mounted. The clamping rim 22 is adapted to be coveredA onthe outside .by the rosette 23 whose peripheral margin 24 is turned over to tightly engage the outer periphery of the clamping rim 22. The opposite end of the re.- tractor housing is closed by an inset closure disk opposite edgesV and are adapted to slide in align- .ing grooves 3| and`32 provided on thevopposite outer sides of the retractor housing. Eachoi" the aligning studsr 29 and 30 is provided with a threaded hole 33 at its free end adapted to receive attachment screws- 34 extending from vcorresponding holes 35 in the clamping rim 22 of the closure '2.I. The rosette 23 is also .provided with corresponding YholesY 36 to provide access to the heads ofthe screws 34. This arrangement permits the clamping. of the retractor housingr' by the clamp-ing ring 22 and the clamping disk 28 on doors of varying thickness.

The clamping disk 28 is preferably attached to the outer rosette 31 by turning Vthe outer periphery of said 'rosette' over therouter periphery ofthe clamping disk 28. The outer knob 38 is rotatably attached at its neck 39 to the'neck 46 ofthe 25 and held in place by the spring ring 26 in the groove 2'1 ontherinside of the retractor housing 20 adjacent the open end a clamping disk 2B of large enough diameter to engage the margin of the hole in the door D in which the retractor housing is mounted, is disposed on the side of the door opposite said clamping rim 22. The clampf ing disk 2 8 is provided with inwardly extending y aligning studs 29 and 30 which are disposed on rosette 31, the knob neck Y39` being solid and provided with an axialjsquarehole 4I adapted to engage theouter spindle 42. The inside knob 44 is similarly rotatably attached by its neck 45 to the neck 46v of the inner rosette 23, uthe inside knob neck 45 being solid andv provided with an axial squared hole 41 adaptedto receive the inner spindle 48.

The retractor 50 consists of an'inverted `U- 'shaped retractor arm 5I which is attached perpendicularly toa-retractor plate inside the housing 20. The LJ-shaped retractor arm 5l protrudes through an opening 53 in the retractorfhousing preferably at an intermediatel positionon the periphery of said housingv relative tothe aligning grooves 3l and 32. The protruding end ofthe retractor arm 5I is provided with an elongated slot 5 4 which is arranged parallel to the axis of the spindle and is adapted to receive the head 55 of the latch bar 56.' The elongated slot 54 compensates for the variance in the thickness of the door.

The latch unit consists'of atubular casing 5'lv which is mounted horizontally in the door at right angles to the axis of the knob spindles. The

latch bolt 5B is attached to the latch bar 56 and has a spring 59 abuttingrthe inner end of the latch bolt andthe inside end of the casing; The

latch bolt is adapted to engage the strike plate 60 in theusual manner. The tubular casing'l is Aprovided on its inner end with connecting legs 68 which are adapted to engage turned over marginal grooves 69 on both edges of the opening 53 in the casing 20. In mounting the device, the legs-are slippedinto the grooves 69 at the same time that the end of the latchbar k56 is engaged in the elongated slot 54. i f

The ,retractor 50 is actuated independently by spindle 48 is mounted for rotation by the bearingv disk B6, the spindle being attached thereto by the attaching Washer l61. The retractor 50 Ais arranged to reciprocate on the post 19 mounted in the housing 2li opposite the vopening 53, a compression spring H being mounted on said post between the retractor plate 52 and the Wall of the housing 20.

The advantages of my invention will be apparent. The provision of the aligning studs extending from the outside clamping plate and closely engaging the aligning grooves on the retractor housing provides sliding adjustmentV to accommodate the mounting of the latch on doors of difierent thickness and at the same time provide means for aligning the axes of the spindles. This is particularly important in split-spindle type locks to keep the operating axes of the knobs inline to avoid binding of the mechanism. The housing and the outer clamping plate with the integral si Aaligning studs are easily made to accurate dihousing adapted to be mounted in a cylindrical hole bored through a door in axial alignment with the knob spindles comprising a cylindrical body having aligning grooves in the exterior cylindrical surface disposed parallel to the axis of said cylindrical body, a fixed clamping rim attached at one end of saidY housing, said lxed clamping rim Abeing adapted to abut the margin of the hole in ,said door and to extend into and align itself withl 'the cylindrical Wall of said hole, a separable clamping plate at'the end of said housing opposite 4 said fixed clamping rim, said separable clamping plate being provided with inwardly extending studs disposed to slide in and fit into said aligning grooves, and screw means for extensibly connecting the ends of said studs to said xed clamping rim, said grooves and said studs coacting to maintain the axial alignmentfof said cylindrical body and said separable clamping plate.

2. In a door latch, a retractor housing adapted to be mounted in a cylindrical hole bored through a door in axial alignment with the knob spindles comprising a cylindrical body having aligning grooves in the exterior cylindrical surface disposed parallel to the axis of said cylindrical body, a fixed clamping rim attached at one end of said housing, said xed clamping rim being adapted to abut the margin of the hole in said door and to extend into and align itself with the cylindrical wall of said hole, a separable clamping plate at the end of said housing opposite said fixed clamping rim, said separable clamping plate being provided with inwardly extending studs disposed to slide in and fit into said aligning grooves, and screw means for extensibly connecting the ends of said studs to said fixed clamping rim, said grooves and said studs coacting to maintain the axial alignment of said cylindrical body and said separable clamping plate; a rosette having a tubular neck non-rotatably attached by said screw means to said iixed clamping rim; a rosette having a tubular neck non-rotatably attached to said separable clamping plate; door knobs having tubular necks rotatably attached to the tubular neck of each of said rosettes, and spindles extending from said knobs into said retractor housing and longitudinally aiiixed to said housing, said knobs being longitudinally slidably but non-rotatably mounted on said spindles.

ROBERT C, CERF, JR.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

